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Watch This Black Gospel Choir Perform “Stand By Me” During The Royal Wedding

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding proved to not only be powerful moment in their lives, but also in British-American history, as proved by this royal performance.

The marriage of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry was awe-inspiring, emotional and, of course, historical. But it was also black AF, which had multiple points of inflection throughout the royal wedding. While many “haters” were focused on Markle’s color and family history, as she wasn’t even raised in the U.K., were “concerned” about how she ended up walking down the aisle in front of the British royal family — we were all focused on how legendary this moment was.

To cap off the diversification of the royal family, Meghan and Harry’s wedding included some truly powerful and captivating moments. One in particular was the performance of Ben E. King’s 1961 classic song, “Stand By Me,” by an all-black gospel choir.

Yes, there’s no doubt that you’ve probably danced to this song as your grandparents anniversary celebration or at some nostalgic-fueled event, but for most people it marked a symbolic turning point for the monarchy and hopefully for race relations around the world. “Stand By Me,” during the civil rights movement in America, was a rallying cry for “solidarity amongst people of color,” and here during this time of strife and stress, seems to have been used for the same function.

The joining of these two families from distinct backgrounds (Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, is black and from Compton) marks a significant moment for the monarchy as this marks a moment of more inclusion for a notoriously conservative and not-so-progressive royal family. As the predominantly black choir sung of endearing love as Prince William, Elton John, Serena Williams, and other noteworthy people of the human community watched on — this morning ‘s royal wedding was symbolic in more ways than one.